The other day, it occurred to me that I may be getting "too old" to wear certain things without looking like I'm trying too hard to be young... things like short shorts. Furthermore, for quite a few years, every time I have stepped foot into Express, I feel like I am teetering on the edge of being too old to shop in that store... (even though when I made a joke about that very insecurity to the 20-year-old sales associate, she replied, "Oh honey, you should see some of the things I've seen...")

At the ripe old age of 34, and after having watched enough makeover shows featuring style guru Stacy London, I feel as though I finally reached the point of needing to have at least one age-appropriate pair of shorts in my wardrobe... ones that flirt with touching my knees. Can I still rock the short shorts? Heck yes, I can, but the aging female mind questions, "Should I?"

No, my kids aren't yet old enough to tell me that I'm embarrassing them, but I certainly don't want to be that mom whose children have more common sense than she does (even though in my family photo, it looks like my son is trying to get away from my mom shorts!). And so... I bought some rather long shorts at The Limited, and let me tell you, when I tried them on without heels, I looked like a stubby-legged mom... unrecognizable to my own eyes.

Okay, I knew these types of shorts could be worked with (I'd seen it done on TV)... a cute top, some cute heels... doable. Ironically, adding fuel to my aging fire, that same week when I went to the hair salon in 6" spike heels, one of the stylists told me that she usually sees me in "cute flats"... Oh - My - God... it was like she had hit me in the face with a handful of floor hair. I had been wearing so many flats that someone actually noticed. For shame - I was clearly slipping.

I had, in fact, become entirely too comfortable in my everyday mom-wear, and it wasunacceptable. Note to self - make some more effort, woman! What happened to the cute put-together, accessorized, heel-wearing girl whose feet had mastered running in 6" heels? She became the mother of two very active boys who could no longer balance on stilts while simultaneously carrying an ever-reaching baby on her hip.

Gathering dust on the shoe rack by the door, my fashion-forward heels long to be worn and can actually be seen cringing and crying silent tears every time I choose the flats over them. Sure, they sit near the exit hoping to be chosen one day, but in becoming more mom-practical, my feet have actually gotten less accustomed to heels, and my aching feet scream with after-cramps from wearing them on the once-a-month special occasion called "date night".

Will my feet ever again feel comfortable in heels?I hope so, or I'll have to have one heck of a shoe sale.

﻿What is the age that women should give up short shorts, long hair, high high heels, and shopping at high fashion stores?﻿ I don't know, but I hope it's not 34!

If the first step to recovery is admitting there's a problem, then I think I'm safe from the Age-Appropriate Fashion Police so I think I'll slowly (VERY slowly) introduce higher necklines, longer shorts, and maybe shorter hair... but NOT shorter heels!